Suspension means for the awning plates of combines



SUSPENSION MEANS' -FOR THE AWNING PLATES'OF' COMBINES Filed Dec. 18, 1967 May 19, 1'970 J. DE COENE 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

May'1 9,1970 Q F-L-JQDEe 'ENE I 3,512,535

SUSPENS ION MEANs FOR THE AWl IING PLATES OF COMBINES Filed Dec. 18, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

May 19, 1970 F. DE: COENE I 3,512,535

v I "SUSPENSION MEANS FOR THE AWNING PLATES OF COMBINES- Filed Dec. 18, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I N VE N TOR. g m M United States Patent. Ofice 3,512,535 Patented May 19, 1970 3,512,535 SUSPENSION MEANS FOR THE AWNING PLATES F COMBINES Frans J. De Coene, Zedelgem, Belgium, assiguor to Clayson N.V., Zedelgem, Belgium, a company of Belgium Filed Dec. 18, 1967, Ser. No. 691,315 Claims priority, application Belgium, Dec. 19, 1966, 46,342, Patent 691,386 Int. Cl. A01f 12/18 US. Cl. 130-27 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Improved suspension for the awning plates of combines, wherein said awning plates are mounted on supports which, on one hand are movably connected with the concave of the combine and, on the other hand, cooperate with means allowing a simple fixing or dismounting of these supports to, respectively from said concave.

The present invention pertains to improved suspension means for the so-called awning plates of combines.

Such awning plates in combines have as function to close part of the concave without the awning plates the small seeds would not be duly threshed.

Up to now, an important disadvantage of these awning plates lie in the mounting and disassembling thereof.

Indeed, especially when disassembling such awning plates, important difliculties are encountered because these plates are solidly clamped against the concave and because the space between the concave and said awning plates is always completely filled with material coming from the crop that has been threshed.

The object of the present invention is to completely eliminate the above mentioned disadvantage from the use of awning plates as known up to now.

To this purpose, the above mentioned awning plates are mounted in such a way with respect to the above mentioned concave, that they can simply and quickly be assembled and disassembled.

The improved suspension of the awning plates of combines, acording to this invention, mainly cosists in mounting the awning plates on supporting means which, on one hand, are movably connected with the concave and which, on the other hand, co-operate with means allowing to fix these supporting means on, or loosen them from, the concave in a simple way.

To better show the characteristics of the present invention a preferred embodiment of the latter is described hereinafter with reference to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematical side elevation, partly in section, of a combine in which the awning plates are mounted according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows, on a larger scale, the connection between support means for the awning plates and the concave;

FIG. 3 is a schematical section according to line III- III of FIG. 2.

The awning plates, respectively 1 and 2, mounted under the abovementioned concave 3, rest according to the present invention free on the U-shaped elements or supports 4 of the support means. The elements or supports are preferably made from wire-shaped material, such as steel-wire for instance. The free ends of said U-shaped supports 4 are equipped with outwardly folded parts, respectively 5 and 6, which are each freely engaged in an opening provided in the standing flanges 7 and 8, of angle profiles, said angle profiles being mounted on a common plate 9 which is fastened, for instance by means of bolts 10, to the lower crossmembar 11 of the concave 3.

The middle leg 12 of each of said U-shaped supports 4 passes through an open ended slot 13 provided in a brace 14, each of these braces 14 being hingedly connected by a pivot 15 to a supporting plate 16 which is fixed, for instance welded, to two crossmembers of the concave.

As shown in FIG. 3 the lower awning plate 1 is constituted by two parts, plates 1A and 1B respectively, and, in this case, these plates are each mounted between one of the sides 17 and 18 respectively and a stringer 19 of the concave.

Of course, one support 4 is provided for each plate 1A and 1B.

In certain cases the awning plate 1 can consist of three or even more parts when the concave includes two or more additional stringers 19. In such a case, the number of U-shaped supports will also be equal to the number of parts constituting the awning plate.

The awning plate 2, which extends under the stringer or stringers 19, will always be made as one unit.

Finally the width of the supports 4 is determined in such a way that they can be taken by one hand.

Assembly and disassembly of awning plates present :absolutely no problem with the above described suspension.

Indeed, to remove the abovementioned awning plates 1-2 it is sufficient to move the braces 14 upwards around their respective pivots 16, the U-shaped folded supports 4 can thereafter be moved downwards around the abovementioned outwardly bent ends 5 and 6 so that the awning plates 1 and 2 can easily be removed. If necessary, the abovementioned supports 4 can also be removed very easily by pushing the arms towards each other with one hand so as to pull the ends 5 and 6 out of the corresponding flanges 7 and 8 of the angle bars mounted on the abovementioned plate 9.

To mount the awning plates 1 and 2 it is sufficient, after having eventually relocated the U-shaped supports 4 in the previously mentioned flanges 7 and 8, to place the awning plates on the U-shaped supports 4 and to rotate these upwards until their middle leg 12 can be engaged by the grooves 13 provided in the braces 14. The brace and common plate with profiles form mounting means for attaching said supports or elements to the concaves for supporting the awning plates under the concave bars.

It is obvious that the invention is not limited to the embodiment described in FIGS. 2 and 3, but that to the abovementioned U-shaped elements 4 can be substituted, in any suitable way, similar elements used as a support for the abovementioned awning plates 1 and 2 and which can easily be fixed to or dismounted from the actual concave, without requiring any special knowledge or tools.

The present invention is thus not limited to the described embodiment but can also be realized in all kinds of shapes and dimensions within the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. Improved suspension for supporting awning plates under a combine concave having a plurality of longitudinally extending bars comprising: first and second mounting means supported by said concave, and means adapted to support said awning plates pivotally connected to one of said mounting means and detachably connected to the other of said mounting means.

2. Improved suspension according to claim 1, wherein said support means is a wire-like element having a U- shape.

3. Improved suspension according to claim 2, wherein said U-shaped element has two free ends bent to pivotally connect with said one mounting means to form a hinge therewith for pivoting said element.

4. Improved suspension according to claim 1, wherein said one mounting means is a longitudinally extending plate having longitudinally spaced profiles with holes for receiving a respective free end.

5. Improved suspension according to claim 1, wherein the other of said mounting means is swingably mounted on said concave.

6. Improved suspension according to claim 5, wherein said other mounting means have a free extremity spaced from the swingable mounting on said concave and an open ended slot near said extremity for receiving said means adapted to support said a'wning plates.

7. The combination of a concave, awning plates and a suspension for supporting said awning plates underneath said concave, said suspension having first and second References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1954 Young 130-27.9 6/1965 Baumeister et a1. 13027.10

ANTONIO F. GUIDA, Primary Examiner 

